Border Soldier at Large After Shooting Wife in Neck

Police in Stung Treng province are searching for a soldier who shot his wife in the neck in a jealous rage at their home in Siem Pang district on Monday night, an official said Tuesday.

Duong Sivutha, chief of the provincial police’s serious crimes bureau, said Nov Sarith, 41, a member of Border Protection Military Unit 101 in Sre Sambo commune, used his military-issue AK-47 assault rifle to shoot his wife, Nick Channai, 37, once in the neck in front of their three young children.

He said the couple had been quarreling over Mr. Sarith’s accusations that his wife regularly accompanied other men into the forest to forage for mushrooms, and that he shot and seriously injured her when the argument escalated.

“The couple always argued with each other because the husband was jealous that his wife always went into the forest looking for firewood and food with other male villagers,” he said.

Mr. Sivutha said relatives of Ms. Channai took her to Vietnam for treatment late Monday night and that police were searching for Mr. Sarith, but “had no clues about his whereabouts.”